Bus Driver!

So I was thinking I needed to post something, but didn't have too much to post on other than the normal things that occupy my life like disc golf, some new music, and life in general. But there is something that is new that is blog worthy. I am now a School Bus Driver! Well, not officially, but I am darn close. I started my training Oct 26, and was in a classroom from 7am-3pm M-F. Not fun. Maybe this is why I have not pursued any higher education, because I am not made to sit in a classroom. But I passed all the tests and quizzes with flying colors. In fact, I passed my CDL (Commercial Driver's License) permit test the first time I took it. This is important because you actually get 4 tries to take the test. There were 3 different Parts that you had to pass, about 90 questions total. And most people need at least 2 times. But not me. So I got that done, and this week I am doing my behind the wheel training. I have been out 2 days. I have to get 15 hours behind the wheel and then I will go take the physical driving test and once I pass that I get my own bus route. Not exactly monumental in the chain of life experiences, but it will add some much needed flow into the wallet. So that is my latest adventure. That, and I am back on a diet. Hopefully I lose a butt load of weight and win my bet with Brad and Dave. Wish me luck :)

My Consensus on the Music I mentioned before

So I had mentioned a while ago that I bought some new music for our mexico trip. So I am going to give my ratings.

Bell X1 - Blue Lights on the Runway - 6.5/10 - It has some catchy Songs but not something I desire to listen to that often.

Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing - 8/10 - I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this album. It was more rock than the others I got, but it was still complex and fun to listen to. One of my favorites for sure.

MuteMath - Elevator Music - 7.5/10 Just Great Worship music. Done by an great band.

The National - Boxer - 9/10 - My favorite of the list. Its quality music, the guy has a really good low voice which you don't hear very often. Its just all around good stuff. If you like Folk with a little edge this is right up your alley.

The Passion Pit - Manners - 7.5 - Really fun to listen too, but after one time through you are kind of done with it for a while. Its catchy, upbeat, much like MGMT. The singers voice is different and starts to kind of wear on you after a while.

Pheonix - Wolfgang Amadeus Pheonix - 7/10 - Maybe because there was a lot of hype surrounding this cd, but it just didn't live up to what I was hoping for. Its fun to listen to, but I wouldn't say it will be a regular listen for me.

Swan Lake-Enemy Mile - 4/10 - I gave this cd 1 listen through and decided its just not for me. A bit too weird, or something. Just didn't really enjoy it. Some people might. But I am not one of them.

So there are my reviews of my new music.

Biker Boy

I made an exciting purchase yesterday. I used some of my birthday money to purchase a bike. A mountain bike to be precise. A Specialized HardRock Mountain bike to be exact. I am really excited. I have thought about getting a bike for the last couple years. Just haven't thought about it when I had spending money. After talking with my friends about it, they gave me some tips about what to look for and I think I found a really good bike. I found it on craigslist and talked the guy down to 160. He paid over 500 3 years ago. And its hardly used. So I am pretty happy about it. Now I just need to get a comfy seat and stay motivated to ride it. So hopefully it will become a new hobby of mine. Looking forward to the exercise that it will give me at least.

New Traveling Music

So I leave for Mexico in 2 days for our summer mission trip. And I could post a ton on that, but I will wait until after the trip to give you all the details. Instead, I am going to post about how I have been going a bit crazy loading up on New Music to listen to on the trip. So I will just list all the artists and albums that I have bought the last two days. Most of them I haven't heard much of, but bought them on the recommendation of some one who's music taste I respect, or had heard a song or two and decided to give it a try. Plus I bought them all off of mp3panda.com so they were super cheap. So here they are.

Bell X1 - Blue Lights on the Runway - This is one of those that I had heard one song and liked it enough to buy the album. We'll see how I like it. Apparently they are an Irish band, but wouldn't have guessed it just hearing them. Check out their myspace and listen to the song How Your Heart is Wired. Its good stuff.

Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing - I needed something a little edgier on this trip too.

MuteMath - Elevator Music - Super excited about this one. Thanks Cory!!!

The National - Boxer - This is one that itunes recommended to fans of Bon Iver so I thought I would give it a chance. I think it will grow on me.

Passion Pit - Manners - I have already blogged about these guys, so I figured this was a good excuse to buy their full album

Pheonix - Wolfgang Amadeus Pheonix - These guys have been talked about a lot on some well respected blogs and they are gaining popularity so I'm giving them a try

Swan Lake - Enemy Mine - A little different, but musically interesting. I am either gonna really like it, or hate it. lets hope I like it.

Thanks for checking out what i will be listening to for the next week. If there is anything else your recommend I get before I leave let me know. 

#1

I think a few of you know about this, I have had it for a few weeks now at least. But I am #1. Meaning what you ask? Well, this may come as a surprise but I love disc golf. And I belong to the Kansas City Flying Disc Club. Which is just the KC disc golf club. I am member number 1031. So there are roughly 1100 people who have been actual members. Now, as an option in the club, you can get a bag tag. Which is just a plastic tag with a number. I started with #130. What this is for, is you play guys during disc golf league nights, and just normal rounds, for tags. So the object is to beat a guy with a better (lower) tag than you and move up the ranks in numbers. Well, as fate would have it #1 is resting in my possession. I have had it for almost a month now. I had it for about 3 weeks but during that time I was kind of injured so I couldn't play too much. I lost it last week in a private match, and then on monday night I beat the guy who took it from me and got it back. #1 is the goal of everyone who has a tag. But it is a special privilege to get it. I defended it the other night against a guy who challenged me, who honestly is a better player. I was just better that night. But I have guys challenging me all the time. and its kind of fun to be the guy everyone is gunning for. Being #1 in no way means I am the best player in KC, but it does mean that I must be pretty decent. Hopefully I can hang onto it for a little while longer. Wish me luck!!!

Inspiration

I have found that inspiration and implementation are two very different things. Things that I struggle finding a balance with. Allow me to explain. Inspiration comes often to me. Most times it is revolving around music. I am often inspired to write a song, or something of that sort. Other times I am inspired to lose weight, like when I watch The Biggest Loser or when I see how good my wife looks... Implementation however does not come as easily for me. Its one thing to think about doing something. Its a whole other thing to actually do it. But I have just decided to make this summer about implementation. So far i am off to a good start. I said May 7th that I wanted to lose 15lbs by the end of May. This could be the 1st time I actually followed through. And I did it! I was watching King of Queens yesterday and Doug was signing up to be in the Big Brother Program. His friend Deacon reminded him that this was "a big commitment, not like the time he said he was going to have washboard abs by Christmas." I found this especially funny, because I know I have said multiple times that I was going to lose weight, and in my head I believed I would, but I had never actually put it into action. But I finally have this time. So I am excited. 

I was also inspired this week by music. We had a concert at our church with the band Waterdeep. I'll blog about that more later. (implementation...) but it definitely inspired me to be writing more music and giving a little more effort to that. Hopefully this summer I can actually accomplish some of that. keep me on top of that would ya? Anyway. I am also trying to blog a little more this summer. So make sure you check back in often. Peace.

My first Music Video

Music Find...

Sometimes I feel that i have a keen ear for something that will get big. I have done it for a few different bands, one of which was Linkin Park (yeah, it was quite a while ago), Jack Johnson (yeah, I listened to him way before he became so big), Coldplay (I knew when I heard "yellow" I should expect good things) and there have been others that I have thought this about and it came true. Although I'm sure there have been misses plenty of times too. But I wanted to share with you a new find that I think has the potential to be kind of big. Not Huge, but at least radio regular material on at least one station. The Band is Passion Pit. I just heard about them last week. I heard their song online and i was like, "hey this is really good" then 2 days later I saw them in my new Paste magazine. Then I saw them again on something else. So obviously my ear was right. They are catching on. (I don't mean because I like them they are going to catch on. I'm not arrogant. Just saying its interesting that several other people are thinking the same thing) So anyway, I will let you listen now and see if you like them as much as I do. Hope you enjoy. And now that it is down in writing, I can say I called this one if they do get big. 

White Man - Awesome new song!

This may be the best Christian song written... ever. Because it isn't "...Christian" if that makes sense. Its... God. And not cheezy, k-love, sing about something churchy, feel like i'm a christian because i listen to this kind of music, kind of God song. But speaks the truth, and is fun. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. The video is kind of fun to watch too. I would call it... "cute". (and I realize i used a lot of ... ...'s)

For Abby - Awesome video

I saw this video and immediately thought of Abby. Its a really cool video to watch. Would have been even cooler to see in person. But I think you will all like it. Hopefully you haven't already seen it.

Awesome video

So I found out about this last night and keep watching it and laughing. I guess it just happened monday. Turn up your speakers so you can hear the guy on the right. 

My Favorite part is... "Gone..."

Also, I have been asked to put the lyrics from my song down so here ya go if you wanted to see them...

I’m staring at the muffintop

Its like a bakery cause its getting hot

The whole club moves when that body drops

I love to watch it shake girl please don’t stop

It happened from the moment that our eyes were locked

The way you stuck out shows you eat a lot

You want a rounded girl that’s what  I got

With my, my my muffintop

 

Was your daddy a baker cause you got nice buns, But that other pastry is what gets me hun

Put some sprinkles on it cause, ding it’s done, When I get you in that club we’ll be having some fun

I love your tight jeans and that belly shirt, I see you look'n at me girl your such a flirt

But everytime you dance girl it looks like work,  cause You’re knocking over tables everytime you twirk

 

Girl I really dig your intertube, I love to watch it shake love to watch it move

I am mesmerized when you start to groove, now everytime I see a muffin I get in the mood

When you shake it hard girl I hear a clap, but that’s just from your rolls slapping on your back

What is sticking out, is that your butt or your back?, those aren’t just love handles, it’s a love attack!

 

You got a hang over and you don’t even drink

Girls sweatin so much that your starting to stink

You’re not dancing hard enough to cause that much sweat

But everytime you shake your head you’re making me wet

I see you bend over try and touch your toes

Everytime you do that your butt crack’s exposed

You’re wearing size two’s you should be wearing size twelves

But let me sit my cup on your built  in shelves. 

MuffinTop...

Ok, so this will require a bit of explaining. Some of you know the story. At our Easter Sunday gathering at Aunt Cindy's we were sitting around talking. I have no idea what we were talking about, but Aunt Cindy brought up the term Muffintop. Referring not to a muffin, but to a girl who wears jeans that are too tight, so her belly hangs over. I found this hillarious that Cindy not only knew what it was, but that she brought it up. And I said I would write a song about it. So I did. I was bored this afternoon and decided I would make a funny song about it. I made a purevolume website so all can listen to it. Remember, it took me all of an hour, maybe an hour and a half to write a record. And its just meant to be funny. So no musical judgements. Hope you find it as funny as I do.

http://www.purevolume.com/gapuryear

PS. This is not exactly the kind of music I envisioned myself making for you guys to listen to. But oh well. 

Sweet Video

I just saw this music video and i have to say its is one of the coolest videos I think I have ever seen. I am very impressed. It had to take a lot of work by somebody. I had never heard of the band, but its a pretty good song too. Here is Winter Gloves: "Let Me Drive"

Irish Jig...

I recently purchased a new cd that I have really enjoyed listening to. I am not usually a punk rock listener, but this is a bit different. The band is Flogging Molly and its Irish Punk. But I love it. Its like bluegrass on crack. It has acoustic guitar, violin, mandolin, plus the addition of distorted guitar, bag pipes, and accordian. It is impossible not to tap your foot along with it. Most of you who are reading this probably wouldn't normally listen to it, but I have to say I recommend it. Its just fun music. I saw these guys in concert back during my sophmore year of college. They were awesome. But I hadn't listened to them much since then. But they are now on my normal rotation. Especially if I want to get pumped up and energized. Just thought I would throw out a music blog to keep up with the rest of you! 

2nd Place!!!

So my very first PDGA tournament was Saturday. I totally underestimated the entire experience. First of all, I got up at 5:45 am, which is unheard of for me, to meet my ride at 6:30 to drive to Topeka. We got to Topeka around 8am because we had to pick one other guy up on the way. It was me and two guys in their mid 40's. So we did about a 9 hole warm up round. Then went to get registered in the club house. There were 101 guys there total so it was really hopping. Since it was my first tourn. I entered the Recreational division. There were 2 courses we used that day and the low divisions started at a different course than the higher ones (where my ride was playing) so I ended up asking random guys for rides. We played the first round and I was 4 strokes off the lead tied for 3rd. I got a ride with one of the guys in my group and went to lunch with him and a friend of his. They were from Emporia. They were partiers(apparently not an actual word) to say the least. So I heard a lot of interesting stories. As well as got invited to a kegger they are throwing in a couple weeks. After lunch we played the second round at the other course. I played a lot better and finished in 2nd place! I couldn't get the lead from the guy who had it, but I jumped over the two guys in my way. I still played a lot worse than I should have. I think I could have won my division if I had putted better, but it was windy and I wasn't comfortable. Anyway, I after the round we went to the player's party at a restaurant and bar for the awards and stuff. We got tickets for raffle drawings and I won that twice! So I got some shirts and hats and stickers and license plate stuff, so that was cool. they did give me a hard time for winning twice, but I gave most of my second prize to the guy who drove me. And then they announce the winners of the division and how much. So... "2nd place in the rec division, Anthony Puryear!" Oh yeah! And for winning 2nd I got $60 good toward the lsdiscs store! (which I would spend money at eventually anyway :) After that we left for home. Dave Hemmeline the guy who drove me tied for 6th overall. And the guys that I thought were gonna ride with us got 3rd and 4th overall. We finally got home around 9:15. So it was a huge day, with tons of excitement. I can't wait to play more tournaments and just keep getting better. If you want to see the results of the whole tournament you can check it out here: http://www.pdga.com/tournament-results?TournID=8818

Blogged Down

I have been a total blog slacker. I have been pretty busy the last few weeks. I went to St. Louis to visit my family. It was a good time. The highlight was visiting the Budweiser factory. It was really cool to see. And I got to play disc golf with one of my college roommates. So that was a lot of fun. Plus playing games with the family. So a good time was had by all.

Then this past weekend I was in Branson (or as i call it "The Christian Las Vegas") with my youth group. The weather was bad. So it kinda stunk. But we still had fun, I stayed with some of the new 7th graders and it was a lot of fun to get to know those guys. And sort of initiate them into the youth group. A lot of wrestling both in the pool, and in the room. We laughed a lot so it was really good. 

Now my mind has shifted to this Saturday. Where I will be playing in my first ever Professional Disc Golf Association Tournament. I am super excited! I played league this past monday and won my division, so I am hoping to carry that winning streak on at the tournament. Plus, I am excited (this is how big of a disc golf nerd I am) that I am riding down with Kansas City's Top disc golf pros! These are the guys that will most likely win the top division. And they offered me a ride with them! Its kind of like this for me; If you were a golfer, and you just played in your area, you were ok, not great, but you loved the game of golf. And one day Tiger woods and Phil Mickelson, come up to you and ask if you want to tag along with them to the next tournament. Now I am not saying these guys are the Tiger woods of Disc Golf, But they are definitely the guys that play against him on a regular basis. So now maybe you see why I am so excited. Maybe one day I will be at their level. That would be sweet! So wish me luck. I will post again after the tournament to let you know how I do. 

The Biggest Gainer

So I have consistently watched the Biggest loser this season and one thing remains consistent. While I watch I am inspired to lose weight. But I also seem to be inspired to eat food. I know it doesn't make sense. But everytime I watch I get the desire to eat something. Tonight I am craving some ice cream. We have some in the freezer. Will I say no, or will I give in? Such a tough decision...

Gloomy Day of Taxes

As I have mentioned before on here, Mondays are my day off. Usually they are fantastic. Today... not so much. It did have a few highlights, such as sleeping till 11:30, and eating some OK Joes BBQ for dinner. But overall it was a pretty blah day. It was overcast all day, and I was really hoping to get a round of disc golf in. Today was the first day of spring league which I had been looking forward to. But then it started raining. So, I decided I would do something that needed to be done. Taxes. Ahhh! What a pain. I wish there was a better system that the government could come up with. Being the thrift people we are, I did them myself instead of having someone else do them. There is a website that i used last year that held all my info for this year, so it was a bit easier. But it still took me a good 4 hours or more. Its during taxes that we realize how unorganized we really are. But I finally got them done. Last year we got like $100 buck back for federal and had to pay 230 for state. This year we had to pay 450 for state, but we are getting back 1150 for federal. So that is good news. We are going to get money instead of paying money! Hoorah! So that was a little bright spot in the mundane work of taxes.
Unfortunatly the day didn't get any better after that. Julie started doing laundry and about 15 minutes later we hear a loud gurgling noise coming from downstairs. Our water was backing up and not draining so our laundry room was starting to fill with water and suds. So that means we have a plumber coming tomorrow morning to try and fix the problem. Good thing we are getting some money back! And to add to it all, it has continued to poor all night. And our upstairs window in the kitchen has a nice leak in it. They say when it rains it pours. I am experiencing that two fold today, literally. But I know that the sun is going to come up tomorrow and it will be a new day. Full of new problems and solutions. Highs and lows. And more of what God has in store for me.

LOGO

So with our AT&T Uverse cable we get tons of channels that never get watched. But today as I was flipping through the guide when I saw a show titled something like Christian Camp for Gays. It was on the LOGO network. Which apparently is a gay and lesbian cable station. But out of curiosity I decided to watch. What I found was very interesting. It was exactly what it said. It was a small Christian camp for teens who are gay and "Christians." This is something that I find myself having lots of personal belief battles over. Is it possible to be a Christian and gay? Its possible for me to be a Christian yet still struggle with all kinds of sin. So when does it become impossible for someone who is gay to be a Christian? After all, it is sin just the same. Obviously though, when your lifestyle revolves around it I think that is where the line is drawn. But I was torn when i watched this show today. Torn both by seeing the pain they have experienced from the church as well as lack of biblical foundation they were receiving. They had gay pastors there who were the staff and one told the story of how he had recently been ordained in the Lutheran Church. I think what is hardest for me is that I want them to be right. I wish that i felt it was possible for someone to be a practicing homosexual and still be saved. But it just goes against what i believe about God's views. Hearing the teens talk about how they wanted families and kids with their "partners" and all I could think of was God created man and woman to be husband and wife. 

This is a battle that is growing closer and closer to home. I say that because of the direction the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA). It is currently in a battle of whether to allow homosexuals to be pastors. I'm thankful that the church I am in does not believe this should happen, but its scary to think that the denomination is going in that direction. 

As I continue to deal with this issue I know that I am going to run into opposition in whatever I believe. But what I know for sure is that we are all children of God. All called to love one another without any stipulations. I need forgiveness all the time for the things I do, and for the way I think. The teens in this show today talked about how they felt unloved by the church for their sexuality. My problem is I don't know how to tell someone that God loves them, but doesn't want them to live the way they feel they were made to live. You understand what i am saying? Anyway, this post is getting long and kind of just going in circles. But this is something that has been on my mind a lot lately and I know it will be something I have to continue to think about. Let me know if you have any thoughts...

These are a few of my favorite things

I love Mondays. Not something most people would say but my situation is different. Mondays are my day off. My Sabbath. The day I get to relax and just be. Yesterday was perhaps one of the best days I had had in a while. I was able to do several things which I love doing. First of all, I slept in. Not as late as I usually do on Mondays. Usually I can sleep till at least 1130 (on some occasions I can go till 1:30 but then I feel I wasted too much of the day) So I woke up around 10:15 yesterday. Which to me is just right. Still plenty of time in the day. Then I watched some recorded TV for a while. Another of my favorite things. I know sometimes I watch tv because I'm just lazy, but I really am a fan of television. Just like people enjoy books or jogging. I like tv. Then I made myself some lunch (food is of course another one of my favorite things) and after lunch I took a nice long hot shower. Long showers just seem to wash stress away along with everything else. They also give me a chance to practice my American Idol audition (yeah, I just sing songs imagining what I would sing if I was in front of the judges) which can make the time really fly by. Its also the time when I do the most thinking. Its always pretty random, but something about the water running over me allows my mind to just open up. After the shower I went and played a round of disc golf with my youth pastor buddies. Obviously disc golf is one of my favorite things. After that round I came back home to be there when Julie got home from school, I got to spend about an hour and a half with her, which is by far my favorite thing to do in the world! Then I went back out to the disc golf course for some Night golf. This is really fun and something I have just gotten into in the last month or two. Its really kind of a beautiful thing to see. Plus the stars were out and I hadn't looked at the stars in a while. After that I went with some of the disc golf guys to a little bar and grill and ate 75 cent tacos. Then came home and watched Chuck and Heroes. If I was going to plan the perfect day, I have to admit it would be pretty similar to yesterday. And I am thankful for a God who delights in my contentment. Knowing that while I was enjoying my day, He was enjoying me, enjoying my day, made it that much better. 

Bluegrass...

I know it may not be a normal thing, but the more I listed to it the more I am starting to think that bluegrass may be my favorite music genre. I love music so I can't say that it has my full allegiance but its close. I went to Knuckleheads last night with a guy from our church. It was a sweet place that has seen its share of shows. Lots of Character. I love places like that. Anyway, I got called by my guy about 6:00 and asked if I wanted to see a bluegrass show. I said sure so we headed down. He thought he knew the main band, but turns out he was mistaken. ( it was hilarious to see him request a song and it wasn't their song! priceless...) But anyway, the opening band was for sure bluegrass and I loved it! There name was The Hillbenders. They are from Springfield MO. They have a myspace here. They were probably my age and were super talented. I loved watching how fast their fingers move. Especially on the banjo and mandolin. (2 of my new favorite instruments) Anyway, the night was great. The second band came out and they were really talented, but had a different style, a little bluegrass, a little country, and little rock. The best part was there were lots of old ladies that kept dancing to them, but they had a couple irish sounding songs and a few younger ladies could do like the river dance stuff. So they got out there and did it. So after my friend had had too many beers I dared him to go out with them and dance and he did! It was amazing. I laughed so hard I cried and sweat! I wish I had a camera. But it was one of the funnest nights of laughter and music I had enjoyed in a long time. 

New Music, just like Joel

In my continuous effort to be more like Joel (not really :) I am going to introduce some new music to the masses that I find pleasing to the ear drums. Introducing Dent May and His Magnificent Ukelele. Here is a fun video and a fun song to listen to. The way the guy looks makes me laugh. Hope you enjoy.

Slacker

I know I am really slacking on this blog thing. I guess I haven't really been thinking much about what I can blog about. I feel like life is sort of Ho Hum these days. Music has been on my mind a lot lately. Not like new releases or grammy stuff, but my music, or lack there of. I have figured out that I am a much better lyricist than songwriter. Or maybe I am just a hard critic of myself. But I can;t seem to find the sound to match the emotion that i want to convey. Its kind of made me frustrated lately. As you know I got my MIDI keyboard. The thing is awesome. At least I think it will be. Problem is its going to take forever to get the hang of it. I saw I guy post a youtube video that I will link below. Its him making a rap beat using garageband and the same midi controller I have. Since garageband is the only recording software i currently have this video gave me a little bit of hope. I sent the guy a message asking how he learned how to do it and what not. He told me that it ONLY took him 6 months to figure out how to do that. Its good and all, but 6 months? Crap. Well, I promised I would post some music and I will keep that promise. But since I am trying to be pretty picky with the sound I want, it may be a while.
There, there is my blog update. Hopefully I will find some motivation to write some more sooner than later. Love you guys!

Wrap-up of the last few days.

I've been slacking a bit lately on the bloggage(new word, take it and spread it like peanut butter) so I have some things to catch you all up on. So I will go with the Cory method of bullet posts.

- New Toy- I am super duper excited for the new gadget I got on friday. I won it on ebay and I have been looking for one for quite a while. Its a MIDI controller. Pretty much just a sweet keyboard that I can start using to make some sweet tunes. I just used if for about 30 minutes on friday night and already am loving the music I can make. I've decided the music genre I am going to put myself in is electrocoustic. Don't know if that has been established as a legit genre or not. But if it hasn't, I just invented it(make that two words in one blog that I just invented. I'm on a role) But anyway, I will start recording some sweet stuff and make a myspace or purevolume page or something to post it on. Ill let you guys know. Here is the pic of my actual keyboard. I found a really rare red one, which makes me even more excited about it. 

- The Dentist - I went in today to get a filling. To make a long story short, I got 4 shots to try and numb my tooth. I couldn't feel my tongue or cheek for 3 hours, yet I felt everything they did to my dumb tooth. Every drill and grinder, water squirt and air puff sent chills down my spine. My fingers were digging into my thighs as I tried not to flinch. So it was not a fun experience. Just another reason why I hate the Dentist. 

- New Hat - I received an awesome gift in the mail yesterday. It was a sweet looking hat from my awesome cousin Abby. Check out how good I look in it! Thanks Abby! 

So that is pretty much it. I did a lot more stuff this weekend, saw a movie(The Wrestler, amazing acting job by Mickey Roarke, pretty interesting and sad story, but I enjoyed the movie), played in the KC Ice bowl disc golf tournament. (200 people there and I finished in the top 25, It was freezing cold and I was out there for about 6hrs but it was fun) So that was pretty exciting. So yeah, good weekend. Hope to talk to you all again soon. Have a great day!

Anthony

GLOW

Its been a few days since i posted. I feel like I had a pretty busy weekend. Some of the exciting things were as follows, Bunko night with the family. I had a lot of fun. Sunday night I went bowling with the youth group. My game scores in order were; 116, 113, 167, 122. The 167 game was because I bet a couple of the youth group girls that if I beat them they cleaned my office and if they won i took them to starbucks. So needless to say, my office is gonna get cleaned! But I'll probably still buy them starbucks. The other crazy thing on Sunday was getting a phone call at 8:30am from our sr. pastor saying his whole family was sick including him and he wasn't going to make it to church. Kinda crazy, but no big deal because he says there is a guy coming to fill in for the sermon. I just have my normal duties of sunday school and worship. So after sunday school I come down to the sanctuary about 3 minutes before service starts. And some of our leaders tell me that there is no sign of the guest preacher. So I should get ready to preach! So I start to freak out a bit, and head to my office to try and find a talk I gave to the teens that I can use. Luckily as I am walking into my office I see the guest preacher walk in. This is as the service is starting! But at least he made it and I didn't have to preach on last minute notice. it all worked out ok. But it was a bit hectic there for a few minutes. 

My biggest highlight of the week revolves around disc golf of course. Monday night the local course here in Olathe has GLOW night disc golf. This is where you take little LED lights they make for discs, and tape them to the top of your disc so you can see them while its dark outside. Its really cool to watch actually. I had never played before but decided I would last night. I got a few lights for Christmas that I needed to use. So I get out there and all these guys are kind of just hanging out. I go sign up and all that then we draw cards for partners. Its just a random drawing so you never know who you will be paired up with. Well I get paired up with a guy named Dave Hemmeline. I had heard of him before, turns out he is KC's #1 player. So that was pretty amazing to get to be his partner. I felt pretty inferior compared to him, but I still had a ton of fun. But thats not even the craziest part. When I showed up to play i saw a guy I recognized but couldn't quite figure out where. Turns out it was Eric McCabe. He is currently ranked #10 in the world. And just won the Professional Disc Golf Association's Players Cup. I had seen videos of him and stuff. But now I was about to play against him! So I was pretty excited about that. For me it was like getting to play basketball against Kobe Bryant or something like that. Luckily, like I said, we were playing with partners. So the final score of the night was: Eric McCabe and his partner, first place, -12 under par, 2nd Place: Anthony Puryear and his Partner, -7 under par. Obviously i would have been nowhere near his score were it not for being partners with another pro, but its fun to say I got second place when I played with one of the world's best. Plus, I won 14 bucks for second place. So all in all, it was a pretty amazing night. 

Drums

I have always considered myself a musician. I can sing and play guitar. I played trombone in Jr. High and part of High School. I can read music for the most part, although I'm sure I would have a tougher time doing it now than back then. And I love the piano, although I can only play bits and pieces. I can sit at a piano for 45 minutes just tinkering around seeing what sounds good. The piano is soothing. However, today I just finished spending about an hour playing the drum set. yes I was on my own in our church sanctuary. I didn't even go in there with the intent to play. But I thought why not, so I put in the first cd I found in the sound booth and cranked up the volume. It happened to be David Crowder's A-Collison. Not the easiest cd to play along with. And you may be thinking, "I'm glad I was not around to hear that." But I have to admit, I feel like I have a little bit of natural talent when it comes to the drums. I obviously am not great. But I can carry a beat, and rock out when the time comes. But after today's jam session, I really fell in love with playing the set. Although I was loud and got off track a couple of times, I was amazed at the worship experience it was. Partly because it was crowder I was playing with, and partly because i was able to play with so much emotion. I don't think there is another instrument that you can express emotion so well through. So now I plan on trying to play with a live band sometime. Probably just the teen worship band. Just to see how I can hang with live music. But I am kind of excited. Just thought I would share that thought. 

Mute Math

I just found out a couple things. Mute math on Jay Leno on the 15th. Excited for that. Also saw this cool video. I am really impressed by this.

Top Albums of 2008

Well, after reading several of these and seeing lots of albums I should have had on this list but somehow missed out on, this is my top 10 albums of 2008. It was hard putting them in order. The top 5 were pretty easy, but the #'s 6-10 were a little more difficult to narrow down. And i decided it was impossible to narrow it down to top songs. So here are the albums.

#10. 

#10 Coldplay - Viva La Vida... - Even though they have become about as popular as anyone can get, I still really enjoy what they put out. I don't know if they will ever be as good as A Rush of Cold Blood to the Head, but they still have some great stuff

#9. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals - I was introduced to this guy about a year ago and I love what he does. I hear something new that I didn't notice the first time every time I listen to it.

#8. Vampire Weekend - These guys kind of came out of nowhere and exploded. I checked them out to see what the hype was about. I like it. Its got great guitar lines and fun drum beats. One of those cd's you can listen to that makes you tap your feet

#7. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs - A quality cd from a band I continue to enjoy more and more. Maybe not as good as some of their previous work, but still worth the nod here.

#6. Horse Feathers- Words are Dead - So this album was not put out in 2008. This is from 06 I believe. They put out a new one in O8 that I haven't bought yet but definitely will. I put this one on because it is one of my favorites of 08 even though it is a bit older. That might now fly in most 08 lists, but this is mine and I can do what I want. These guys are a lot like Iron and Wine who I love. I was kind of in a folk-y mood this year I guess. 

#5. Jason Mraz - We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things - I wasn't always a big Jason Mraz fan, but I bought this because i liked one of the songs i heard. Now I am a huge fan. I felt like his earlier stuff was a little to pop-y but this album has a ton of depth to it. Great songwriting again. This one will keep getting played for a while.

#4. Born In The Flood - If This Thing Should Spill - These guys are an indy band that I just heard about through following a friend of mine's band. Awesome unique voice. Great songwriting and tons of emotion and energy. I'm hoping for big things from these guys. The lead singer also has a solo project called The Wheel. Its worth a listen as well.

#3. Charlie Hall - The Bright Sadness - This album is so much more than a worship cd. It is complex and really expands the boundaries of what most mainline worship artists have put out. Plus so many songs get stuck in your head and its in a good way.

#2. Kings of Leon - Only By The Night - I hadn't really listened to KOL before this and I feel like I missed out on something special. I bought this cd out of curiosity and was immediately taken back by how much I enjoyed it. 

#1. Jon Foreman - Limbs and Branches - This is the album that just kept sticking out it my mind. He put out his Winter and Fall EP and most of the songs that are on there are on this cd with a couple extras. But this is one of the best displays of song writing I can think of. I love this.

Other Albums that almost made the list:

Passion- God of this City

Family Force Five - Dance or Die

Phil Wickham - Cannons

Jack's mannequin - The Glass Passenger

Daft Punk - Discovery

LCD Soundsytem - Sound of Silver

Anberlin - New Surrender

Sanctus Real - We Need Each Other

Ben Folds - Way to Normal

Hope you'll check out some of that stuff and enjoy as much as I do.

My kind of guy

This was an interesting video about a guy name Ed Dobson. That's right, Ed, Not James. I'm not sure that James Dobson would have been able to do this. But its kind of inspiring, and you gotta love a guy with a beard. 

The late night - "what am I here for?"

Its funny how often these kind of thought come when you should really be in bed, but I thought I would just post this sense it was on my mind. Not necessarily for anyone to read and gain anything from but for me to write down and remember. I just got home from seeing Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood. Not exactly the movie I expected to stir my moral compass, but it did nonetheless. And the thought that it has stirred within me is something I know I have felt before and hopefully everyone thinks this if not at least every Christian. But what am I doing to help? Who am I helping? I saw the movie about 15 miles away from my house so it gave me time to really have some thoughts. Thoughts that take a while to process. As a youth pastor, I know that I am helping in ways that I can't really see all the time. Or at least I hope I am. And I know that I could be doing a much better job, which is something I need to be challenging myself to. But my burning thought is; who is the person who's life I am meant to change. I know that i have helped lots of peoples lives in many different ways. Mission trips, service projects, just talking with some troubled teens. But I feel that I need to invest in someone. Someone who really needs it. I'm not talking about sponsoring an african child. Although I know I probably should do that too. But I can't help but think that there is someone in this world, or even city, that is waiting or needing for me to come along. To do more than buy them a lunch or say a quick prayer. But to be part of their life. Not just be a charity, but be a part of their life. What kind of impact could I have on someone? More importantly where do I even look for this person? In the movie a man keeps a teen out of trouble with a gang. Could I do that? I would love to work in the inner city, promoting peace and that sort of thing. But what if I could get to a heart level with someone in that situation. Be a refuge from the stuff they have to go through. 

I don't really have any answers. My other thought on the way home was that I feel like there are so many organizations and outreaches and all that stuff that I get lost before i even can start. I spend more time figuring out which to choose or where to go that I never actually get started. It would be a lot easier if I could just walk into a bar, or up to a guy on the street, and introduce myself and tell them that i want to be a part of their life. But would that work? All I know is there are a lot of hurting people out there and I don't just want to give them a solution, I want to hurt with them, to cry with them, to be their friend. I want to impact their life as they impact mine. Because if I am not on this earth to be love, to help someone with authentic, dirty, passionate, sacrificing love, then what am I here for? 

So if you did read this, pray for me to do something about what i wrote instead of sitting at home being lazy, just thinking about what i could be doing. And if you have some ideas on how to get started with this please share. I'm not trying to be part of an organization or lead a movement. I just want to be a good part of somebody's life. 

High School

I just finished going through a shoe box full of notes I got in highschool. It was pretty funny. It brought back a lot of memories. But it also kind of reminded me how trivial so many things are. The funniest part was there was 1 girl who had the majority of the notes in there. We were friends who tried dating, but she was a little looney. Not really. She just liked drama. But she was an awesome musician and we were in the youth group worship band together. But we started a band together my Junior Year of Highschool called Thornburg. We played one show at a battle of the bands and won 1st place for best show or something. ( I think every band won 1st place in something) but never played another show because She quit because she thought us 3 guys in the band didn't give her the credit she deserved. Pretty funny looking back on it. Now she is in Nashville making music. 

I also found a LOT of lyrics I had written during my highschool years. Lets just say you won't be hearing them in any songs. Funny how limited my vocab was, and how cheesy all the songs were. Hopefully I have improved a bit since then.

Eureka! That just made me come up with my New Years Resolution. Make more music. And record it. I'll keep you updated on how that goes. 

Top Movies

Here are my favorite movies of 2008 with a little side note. These won't be on everyones favorite lists, and just because they are on here doesn't mean they are great. I just enjoyed them.

10. Drillbit Taylor - Dumb movie. But the kids in this movie are pretty hilarious. 

9. Burn After Reading - I love a dark comedy. And Brad Pitt is great in this one

8. Ghost Town - Thought it was good the first time, watched it again this week and really enjoyed it.

7. Role Models - Another movie that could be dumb, but the kids definitely make it funny

6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - This was actually a really really funny movie, inspite of the brief male frontal nudity.

5. Be Kind Rewind - Made me remember why I love movies. 

4. Pineapple Express - For a stoner movie, this one made me laugh pretty hard.

3. Iron Man - Awesome Super hero movie. Unfortunatly it was overshadowed by the Dark Knight. Had it come out earlier or in 2009, it would have been even bigger.

2. Step Brothers - This is one of my favorite Will Ferrell Movies. Although the 2nd half gets a bit boring. The first half alone gets it in as my #2

1. The Dark Knight - One of the best movies ever made. This one will be remembered for a really long time. I loved it.

Worst Movie of the Year: Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - I'm sure there were other horrible movies, but out of the ones I saw. This one was the worst. Farewell Indian Jones.

2008 Movies I haven't seen yet, but I think will be good and that I plan on seeing:

Slumdog Millionaire

Run Fatboy Run

Gran Torino

In Bruges

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

And if you haven't seen some of the top 10 list, I own 1,2,3, &8. You can borrow.

Thanks for Reading

I am Second...

I'm sitting here watching the season premier of The Biggest Loser (it was yesterday, but you gotta love DVR) wishing that I was motivated enough to do what they keep saying. Maybe if I keep watching i will be. I know I need to be. My friend Nate has lost over 80 pounds in this past year. And now he is smaller than me I think. But that is not what this post is about. I was reading Mike King's Blog (he's the president of YouthFront) and he posted a video of Jason Castro from last year's American Idol. I had heard that Castro was a Christian. But the video was really cool. At the end of it, he says "I am second" and it looked like it was some campaign sort of thing so I started looking into it. It seems like a pretty cool ministry. I watched a few videos. They have some famous people. But more than that, there are some really moving stories. So I thought I would share the link. its just iamsecond.com but check it out. I think it could be a great tool for Christ. 

Up and coming

So its been too long since I wrote on here. Because of that I have tons to talk about but I can't just do one post on everything. So this post is a list of things I plan to talk about on future posts. Is that dumb? Oh well, at least it gives you a preview of things to come. Here are some things I can think of that are still to come...

My growing obsession with Disc golf (yes it is still growing)

Branson (or as I call it, "The Christian Las Vegas")

Music (i gotta follow the crowd and put out my top whatever list)

Movies (because I probably see more movies than I listen to albums)

Christmas Presents (plus an amazing game that I plan to buy)

Maybe some things I would like to accomplish in 2009

As far as something to blog about today: It was a good day, I ate an amazing burger at LC's with the boys. Then went and enjoyed the nice weather with Joel during a round of disc golf. I played pretty bad, and Joel beat me for the first time. But it was bound to happen sometime. But I'm glad we were out there. In the mean time. My wife gave me her cold and I am just trying to recover from that. So far I just keep going downhill. Hopefully that changes tomorrow.

Hasta LaVista!